Ten years ago, Netflix launched a series that has one of the best episodes of all time. In it, a horse delivers a eulogy for over 20 minutes
When Netflix was still in its infancy as a streaming service, the platform released one of its first and best in-house productions. This week marks the tenth anniversary of its launch – and it remains unforgotten to this day. We are talking about BoJack Horseman.
The animated series about the aging sitcom star BoJack, who suffers from the downsides of fame in Hollywood, provided plenty of absurdly funny, melancholy, clever and harrowing moments over six seasons. One particularly memorable one takes place in the episode Free Churro in season 5, which I still think back to often today.
BoJack Horseman episode Free Churro is still unforgettable on Netflix today
An anthropomorphic horse gives a eulogy for over 20 minutes and not much else happens on a visual level. This concept for a series episode – especially an animated series episode – sounds completely absurd at first, if not completely boring. After all, animated series thrive on exactly what their genre promises: animation that comes up with shapes, colors and visual impressiveness and thus breaks the boundaries of our worlds.
The fact that in the episode Free Churro we see BoJack standing almost still for several minutes in a long shot, close-up or close-up in front of his mother’s supposed coffin and listen to his stories like a comedy special or even a podcast breaks completely different boundaries: those of expectation, which BoJack Horseman has regularly undermined over six seasons.
Because even if nothing about this bold decision should work, the episode is simply great for that very reason. With simple picture design, the focus here is not just on what we see, but more importantly what we hear. BoJack Horseman completely throws out the old filmmaker’s rule of “show, don’t tell” and manages to hit the mark on an almost purely auditory level.
This is due in large part to the art of voice acting by Will Arnett (Arrested Development), who lends his voice to BoJack in the original English version. Between comedic highs and tragic lows, he skillfully guides viewers through the episode. The real star, however, is Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s script, which unfolds its full force with emotional depth behind Arnett’s voice
From one horse to the next
The episode fits into the series like a climax that it has been building towards over many episodes and seasons: the death of BoJack’s mother, who we know mainly from stories and flashbacks and who has made life difficult for the fallen Hollywood star since his childhood. At this point, the anthropomorphic horse finally lets out the influence this had on BoJack’s life and the desires he carried with him for over 50 years in this eccentric mother-son relationship
On the one hand, a tragicomic release takes place here when BoJack recounts his last encounter with his mother, who finally let him hear what he had always hoped for – only to come to a terrible realization a little later. On the other hand, a cycle is revealed, framed by the beginning and end of the episode, revealing a cross-generational trauma that BoJack lives and will live on.
So it’s no wonder that the episode was not only nominated for an Emmy, but also has an IMDb rating of 9.8 out of 10, making it one of the highest-rated series episodes of all time.
BoJack Horseman has impressively proven that monologues not only work in Shakespeare and on theater stages, but also in series formats – whether animated or not – and even inspire in them. And still makes me think back to the episode today when I notice a similar structure in other series (looking at you, The Bear: King of the Kitchen and Reindeer Baby).
